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As Campus Reform humorously pointed out, the battle over the next nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States began almost immediately after the announcement that Justice Anthony “Tony” Kennedy would retire.

While the manufactured home industry veteran did not mention SCOTUS or the vacancy, in what reads like an anticipatory statement, Mark Weiss, JD, President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) said in a new article that it is time for a return to the rule of law, as it applies to manufactured housing. See that, linked here.

If certainty is an important issue for business and investing – and investors routinely tell MHProNews that it is – then dependability from the courts is a crucial issue for manufactured housing, and all others too.

Much of what has occurred in transforming American business and the legal landscape in recent decades has come from political and legal changes that flowed from Washington, D.C.

So like it or not, these issues matter to MHVille.

Increased Certainty for Business?

It is against a backdrop of certainty for business – rather than red herring issues like abortion, which even if someday it would be overturned, it would simply go back to the states – that this Daily Business News post examines the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He stated last night that “A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written, and a judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent.”

That is the essence of what certainty is. That a law means what it says, and thus provides certainty for business and all others. The rest are details and commentary.

Showing off their sometimes-subtle whit, right wing Breitbart – which provided some of the pull quotes used here – shared a video from left wing MSNBC to show their readers what Judge Kavanaugh had to say in his 8 minutes of initial fame. Our video will be from CSPAN.

Kavanaugh was a Bush Administration appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 30, 2006, per federal records.

Kavanaugh said, “The framers established that the Constitution is designed to secure the blessings of liberty. Justice Kennedy devoted his career to securing liberty. I am deeply honored to be nominated to fill his seat on the Supreme Court.”

The D.C. judge later added some of the most important talking points that will doubtlessly come up during his confirmation process, “My judicial philosophy is straightforward. A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written, and a judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent. For the past 11 years, I’ve taught hundreds of students, primarily at Harvard Law School. I teach that the Constitution’s separation of powers protects individual liberty, and I remain grateful to the dean who hired me, Justice Elena Kagan. As a judge, I hire four law clerks each year. I look for the best. My law clerks come from diverse backgrounds and points of view. I am proud that a majority of my law clerks have been women.”

The View from the Oval Office

In a release to the Daily Business News, the White House press room said last night that Kavanaugh was “the best of the best.”

Campus Reform and Democratic Push Back

Millions will be spent by both major parties and their backers, primarily in battle ground states where Democrats have senators up for re-election this November in ‘red states’ that President Donald J. Trump won in 2016.

As MHProNews previously reported, several potential issues are expected to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming years that will impact manufactured housing. So this business of certainty and following the law and Constitution matters.

In Calaveras County, California, the Butte Fire had a significant impact on the area, putting a number of area residents into temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) housing.

Eighteen months later, some residents are still in their FEMA homes, looking for permanent housing. And now, FEMA says they are out of time.

According to the Calaveras Enterprise, the families will have to make the decision on whether or not they want to continue to stay in the homes or pack up and move, as the 18-month housing assistance deadline is coming up later this month.

“The initial deadline, March 22, was extended via a state request to Sept. 22 for homeowners who have struggled to find permanent housing. However, during that period, homeowners are required to pay rent based at fair market value for each unit,” said Kelly Hudson, a FEMA spokeswoman for the region.

For resident Camille Green, the news is particularly difficult given her circumstances due to the fire.

And that makes the news from FEMA hard to swallow. Green relies on social security and has limited room for things like moving in her budget.

“It’s almost two years later and I’m still in a FEMA village,” said Green. “They are basically saying pay or get out.”

The location of the Butte Fire. Credit: Wikipedia.

Resident Barbara Zelmer lives near Green and faces a similar situation, including healthcare and rebuilding costs for her lost home.

“If I pay rent here, it’s going to put me on a deficit,” said Zelmer. “It’s going to put me in debt. If I have to pay rent here, I won’t be able to rebuild.”

“If I use the money I have and put it toward rebuilding (the money I received from the government) or if I use that toward rent, I’ll be rendered homeless either way if I don’t do something,” said Zelmer.

Green says that, as an owner, the idea of paying rent does not make sense.

“I have to pay those land taxes no matter what I’m at,” said Green. “I don’t have the funds to pay for my land out there and stay somewhere else.”

Green is considering getting a simple home and putting it on her land.

“I’m stuck between a rock and a harder place. I can get along. I can haul water there, but I’m getting older and I’m not in good health, so at this point, I cannot get out there and take care of myself properly.”

Zelmer agrees, and says that living in a FEMA unit isn’t high on her list of things to do.

“To pay $800-or-something a month when I own my land?” asked Zelmer.

“I shouldn’t have to pay rent; I’m an owner. I just need help getting home.”

A home damaged during the Butte Fire. Credit: Calaveras Enterprise.

Even with the challenges, both Green and Zelmer are hopeful that they will be out of the FEMA homes and back onto their land, with newly built homes, well before the FEMA deadline.

“We want to go home. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have this place, but as you can see, it’s not very homey, and I did that on purpose; it’s temporary housing,” said Green.

“The land still calls me and I will go home, and I will have a good life there. But as I look out across the valleys, my property is forever changed, no way to get around that.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Official Photo.

For more on the challenges that FEMA faces in delivering services, including the case of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (HOGR) chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) demanding answers after discovering a slew of problems with FEMA’s use of post-disaster temporary housing in Louisiana, click here. ##